The Miller Center is a nonpartisan affiliate of the University of Virginia that specializes in presidential scholarship, public policy and political history and strives to apply the lessons of history to the nation’s most pressing contemporary governance challenges. more →

Welcome to the Miller Center

From presidents Carter, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush.

The Athenæum maintains not only its own, but also the institutional archive of two earlier Boston cultural institutions, the Anthology Society and the Boston Library Society; the Boston Library Society merged with the Athenæum in 1939.

The Boston Library Society records include information on early members, catalogs, and reading lists from this early Boston institution. The Anthology Society records chronicle the evolution of a small group of scholars who became the founders of the Boston Athenæum. As the founders and proprietors of the Athenæum were also the dynamic builders of Federal Boston, the Athenæum archive preserves crucial records relative to 18th- and early 19th-century literary and cultural development in the city. Taken together, this archive provides a complete and unbroken record of Boston cultural development from 1792 to the present day.

Note that this is an incomplete collections list. Please contact the organization directly for the most current information about their holdings.

Created by: Sue Perdue

Josephine Murray Autograph collection, 1771-1923.

Collection includes: cut signatures of John Quincy Adams (n.d.), Grover Cleveland (ca. 1904), Martin Van Buren (1859 May 2) and an early American forgery of George Washington's signature (ca. 1795), with a letter from Robert Spring (1863 March 17) regarding Washington autographs. Signed autograph letter from John Adams (1801 February 16) addressed to the United States Senate regarding property, typed signed letter from Calvin Coolidge (1923 December 8) to Major Stephen V.R. Crosby, signed autograph letter from Thomas Jefferson (1812 June 17) addressed to Mr. Gibson regarding debt Jefferson is unable to pay due to the failure of his tobacco crop. Signed typed letter from Woodrow Wilson (1913 March 7) addressed to Gordon Auchincloss, State Department, regarding maps received. Papers signed by John Murray Dunmore, Governor of the Bahamas (1787-1796) and Governor of Virginia (1771-1775) to Alexander Colden, surveyor of New York (1771 February 25) and document (1795 August 4) regarding Bahama Island. Collection also includes: engraved portraits of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and John Murray Dunmore. Photographs of: Coolidge, Cleveland, Van Buren, and Wilson.

James Buchanan to William Hopkins, Letters, 1848-1857

7 items, in folder.
Holographs, signed.
Open to qualified researchers.
In this group of six letters, Buchanan speaks candidly to an old and trusted friend. He makes mention of the presidential election of 1852, sectional disputes and the slavery issue, the candidacies of Lewis Cass, Winfield Scott and others, the governorship of Pennsylvania and the political climate in Western Pennsylvania generally. After graduating from Dickinson College in 1809, Buchanan went to study law with Hopkins, who mantained an office in Lancaster; from these letters, it is evident that Buchanan continued to regard his mentor with great respect and affection.
Boston Athenaeum.http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/collection/data/10629329

1 item (3 p.) + envelope.
ALS.
Grant explains that while in Chicago recently Dr. Tiffany of the Metropolitan M.E. Church called on him to urge appointment of Dr. Samuel C. Blake as surgeon of the Chicago Main Hospital. He further states that he does not know Blake, but that Tiffany rendered important service during the war by speaking daily from the pulpit, encouraging enlistment.
Archivegrid: http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/collection/data/20989040

Shaw Family Letters received, 1859-1940

Shaw Family letters received, 1859-1940. The Shaws, a prosperous and well-connected Boston family, were also radical abolitionists. Francis George Shaw (1809-1882), worked to establish the Freedman's Bureau. Sarah Blake Sturgis Shaw urged her son, Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863) to lead the first African-American regiment of soldiers in 1863 during the Civil War. In 1863, Robert was killed while leading the 54th Regiment in an assault on Fort Wagner, Charleston, South Carolina. Josephine Shaw Lowell, the Shaw's third daughter, began a long career in political and social movements. She organized and established several relief organizations such as the Consumers' League of New York (1896), was the first woman member of the New York State Board of Charities (1876) and was actively involved in the labor movement. Lowell also lead the anti-Imperialist movement during the Spanish- American War and opposed American imperalism in the Philippines and the Caribbean.

The majority of letters in the collection were received by Sarah Blake Sturgis Shaw and her daughter, Josephine Shaw Lowell. Many of the letters received by Sarah are condolences for the death of her son, Robert in 1863. A few letters to Sarah, concerning the abolitionist movement, also reflect the political situation at that time. Letters received by Josephine from Theodore Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Grover Cleveland all reflect Lowell's participation in the anti-Imperialist movement and its effect on the Philippines. Other letters in the collection include: from Oliver Wendell Holmes to Sarah regarding song lyrics; two letters from sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens regarding the Boston monument to Robert Gould Shaw; one personal letter from William James to Josephine; and two personal letters from Henry James to Josephine and her daughter, Lotta. Other correspondents and recipients include: Charles Russell Lowell (Josephine's husband) to Charles Sumner; Charles Russell Lowell to General Francis C. Barlow (Charles' brother-in-law, married to Ellen Shaw); Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar (Attorney General under Grant) to Francis C. Barlow; Grover Cleveland, Henry James and Woodrow Wilson to Ellen Barlow; W. Somerset Maughan to R.S. Barlow (Francis and Ellen's son). A carte de visite of Grover Cleveland, signed and the passport of Francis C. Barlow are also included.